Mishima Clan

Contents

History

Origins

The Mishima family was originally a warrior clan that served the Japanese Emperor. The clan's origins date back to the Heian period (794 - 1185) during the time of the Taira and Minamoto clans. The family capitalized on the outbreak of World War and built an industrial empire that focused on providing militaristic resources to Japan.

Jinpachi Mishima started moving the focus of his corporation away from the military due to his distaste for needless conflict, and instead focused more on martial arts training and opened a personal dojo where he taught his son Heihachi Mishima and the young Kazumi, who was a member of the Hachijo Clan, a family of secret assassins that carried the Devil Gene in their blood.

Heihachi and Kazumi formed a lasting bond and the two fell in love over time, giving birth to a son named Kazuya Mishima. Heihachi, however, was very hard, training him to be a fighter and showing no love for him.

Beginning of the Mishima curse

Kazumi realized that both of them would become a threat to the world and made Akuma, whom she once saved, promise to kill them both. Heihachi had also adopted Lee Chaolan and used him as a rival for Kazuya, to motivate the latter to keep pushing onwards and bettering himself.

Heihachi also forcefully seized the control of the family corporation from Jinpachi and had him imprisoned underneath Hon-Maru, believing him to be weak. The same year, Kazumi was killed by him after she tried to assassinate him. Kazumi had tried to kill him earlier too, though he initially believed she had a split personality. This was proven false when she revealed her devil form and stated she was actively trying to kill him to protect the world.

Kazuya, however, realized that Heihachi was responsible for killing his mother. The young Kazuya fought his father near a cliff in the same year and was beaten within an inch of his life. To test whether it was the Hachijo blood that carried the Devil Gene, Heihachi tossed him off a cliff, leading to the beginning of the events of the Tekken series.

Heihachi to be fully sure that it was the Hachijo bloodline and not the Mishima bloodline that carried the Devil Gene, impregnated another woman. The child conceived of this union was Lars Alexandersson and as expected, never showed any signs of carrying the Devil Gene.

Tekken storyline

All the main protagonists and antagonists are from this family and they have the most rivalries between themselves and with other fighters outside the family. There is a curse within them that causes them to turn against each other when they are joining forces. However, this only seems to have begun with Heihachi as no Mishima before him is known to display the same behavior.

Some of the Mishimas who really have a desire for peace manage to break free from the accursed feuds. Some members are also known for having the Devil Gene which actually originates from the Hachijo Clan's bloodline, while some of them want to end the Mishima Bloodline due to the Hachijo blood that put the entire present events into motion.

Tekken 7 story-wise, was meant to serve as the conclusion of the "Mishima clan saga" and answer (amongst other Tekken mysteries) many questions regarding the family.[1] However, as of the story progress where Heihachi is finally killed at Kazuya's hands, the clan's saga still continues.

Links to the Family

Trivia

According to Tekken producer Katsuhiro Harada, Kazuya was not the first Mishima family member to make contact with the devil, and that both Kazuya and Jin believe it started with Jinpachi but only Heihachi really knows who it was. Harada also pointed out that neither Jinpachi, Heihachi nor Lars possess the Devil Gene. It was later confirmed in Tekken 7 that it was Kazumi Mishima being the first to have and start the Devil Gene bloodline. It would also explain the reason why Jinpachi, Heihachi and Lars do not possess it yet both Kazuya and Jin do.

It is interesting to note that each of the members with a direct lineage to the Mishima family have the ability to run an electric current through their hands. This is largely apparent when they are performing certain moves such as Rising Uppercut. There are also color variations between members such as blue for Kazuya, red for Jin (originally blue), yellow/light blue for Heihachi, black/purple for Jinpachi, and purple for Lars.

The video game Ehrgeiz, by Square and DreamFactory, has a character named Godhand, whose real name is Ken Mishima. He closely resembles Kazuya and Jin in appearance, even wearing similar gloves, and his fighting style includes moves akin to the Mishima Style Fighting Karate. Though Namco published the arcade version of the game, it's unlikely that he's meant to tie into the Tekken franchise, and is instead some sort of reference/tribute.

With the exception of Jin Kazama, all members of the Mishima clan (Devil Jin included) are known for using the pronoun "kisama" (貴様) as their second-person pronoun when confronting each other except for Kazuya and his grandfather Jinpachi, with Kazuya using "Anata"（あなた）(polite) and Jinpachi using "Omae" (お前） (impolite when used with strangers but is considered affectionate when referring to close family and friends). Kisama is extremely rude and offensive in nature, and it is usually used by or against antagonists and archnemesis.The Mishima family also has them never calling each other with parental pronouns (father or grandfather), except for Kazuya in Tekken 5 using "Jiisan" (grandpa) when referring to Jinpachi.Heihachi in his first interlude in Tekken 5 with Jinpachi he refers to him as Oyaji-dono (親父殿) with Oyaji being an informal version of "father" and Dono meaning "lord/milord", historically used as formal honorific, today it's often used to exaggerate old age in old men, essentially Heihachi mocking Jinpachi's age.